(Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Julian Green is an 18-year-old German-American soccer player who caught the nation’s attention this week when he announced he had decided to play his international football going forward for the United States.
That decision was validated this week by FIFA, who approved the move on Monday.
FIFA has approved change of nationality for Julian Green–he's eligible to play for USMNT immediately.—
Sunil Gulati (@sunilgulati) March 24, 2014
Green’s father, Jerry Green, is a retired member of the military who lives in the Tampa, Florida area, and in a long phone interview with For the Win discussed his son, what sort of talent he brings to the U.S. team, and offered some thoughts as to why he believes his son — with whom he remains in close contact — chose to play for the United States.
“I think were it another coach…I don’t know if he would be there now,” said Jerry Green, affirming that Jurgen Klinsmann was instrumental in his son’s decision to play for the U.S. “Let’s say it was [U.S. u-20 head coach] Tab Ramos — and I’m just using him as an example because I know the name — I’m not sure that we would be where we are right now.”
Julian Green was born in Tampa, Florida but moved to Germany with his mother as a toddler. His father and mother were still together at that point, and there was some discussion about where the family would eventually settle. Jerry Green got a job in Florida, though, and the kids stayed in Germany with their mom for the most part, though frequent trips were made back and forth. (Green and his wife later divorced.)
Julian Green spent his youth divided not only between Germany and the United States, but divided between his loves of two sports — soccer and hockey.
Green had an older brother, Justin, who he followed around. When his brother started playing hockey, Green took it up as well and excelled in the sport.
“Julian is very good at watching and observing and imitating,” his father said. “He used to go with Justin to hockey practice, and he would go in the corner and skate in circles. And at some point Justin’s coach say, ‘Hey, Julian you can join us to practice.’ And he wouldn’t for two years. And the reason was he wanted to become a great skater before he played. I mean, someone that young [Green was six at the time] thinking like that.”
Later, the older Justin decided hockey wasn’t for him, and decided he wanted to play soccer. Green followed his brother on to the pitch. Soon, his love for the beautiful game surpassed his love for hockey, even though he was one of the best hockey players in the area.
“The hockey community there was devastated,” his father said. “They were like, ‘You can still play. You don’t have to come to practice. You can just go to games.’”
Green’s mind was made up, though: He would play soccer. Much like a young Green spent two years learning to skate before playing hockey, he began systematically developing the skills needed to become one of the best soccer players in Munich.
“He learned early on how to kick with both feet,” remembers his father. “Something that he taught himself. You know, nobody told him that. He realized, ‘If I’m in a situation where I can’t get a shot off with the right, or even if it’s more practical to take a shot with my left, I need to learn how to do that.”
Green quickly was using both those feet to score goals, lots of them, and those goals led to attention from Bayern Munich — the largest club in Munich and one of the most successful in the world — the German youth national teams, and the attention of U.S. Soccer.
Green had trained a few times with the U.S. youth teams whenever they were in Europe, but often was contacted last minute — Green’s father remembered one time a representative national team calling Green a week before they were to arrive in Europe to ask if he could come and meet them. Another time Green’s name was put on a roster of potential call ups for a youth national team, even though no one from U.S. Soccer, his father says, had ever contacted them.
The experiences left a sour taste in Jerry Green’s mouth.
German-American teenager Julian Green, right, goes through Bayern Munich training exercises with Thomas Muller. (Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/DPA/AP)
All that changed however, when a new American manager, a German goalscorer with connections to the United States, came calling.
“With Klinsy [nickname for U.S. manager Jurgen Klinsmann], here’s someone Julian identifies with,” said his father. “Klinsy played for Munich, he coached the German national team, on and on and on. He’s won a World Cup. I know there’s a part of Julian that is German, and a part of him thinks, ‘Maybe I should stay and play [for Germany.]‘ But I also believe that there’s a feeling, like a substitution of that, and that is the presence of Klinsmann.
“In a sense, he’s not playing in Germany, but the leadership that he is looking to for coaching and guidance — they are German. And I think that whole unique situation there is what ultimately won out.”
Green’s father says the family identified with Klinsmann, but that his son found something else with the United States he found attractive — a family atmosphere.
“Growing up, Julian’s always liked people. He’s always liked family,” his father said. “He loves when family is around. He’s that kind of person. He likes people.”
When asked if the family feeling was one that attracted Green to the United States men’s national team — it was widely reported that captain Clint Dempsey personally gave Green a jersey when he visited the camp — Jerry Green’s response was unequivocal: “Absolutely.”
He continued: “I absolutely believe that. Personally I believe that the driving force for Julian, and this is my personal opinion — I haven’t asked Julian about the decision exactly — but I’m certain, because I know my son, it goes back to his love of people. He loves family…I can understand how the American environment there on that team would be attractive to him.”
As to whether or not Green should be going to Brazil for this World Cup, his father says he’d love to see it, but insists his son has realistic expectations.
“When I talked to Julian, he told me that he would have to work really hard, and that it may not be enough time,” said his father. “His focus has always been on Bayern, and how well he can play to get to where he wants to be at Bayern. That’s his focus.
“I know certainly he hasn’t gone in to this think, ‘Oh, well I’ll just wait for that train for Brazil to come. I’ll be hopping on that.’ That’s not something he thinks about. He thinks about, you know — ‘Every day my skills have to improve. Every day I have to get better. Every day I have to show people that I can play.’”
And what of the question of American identity? Does Julian think of himself as an American or a German?
“I don’t know what that really means,” says his father. “Julian grew up, as far as day-to-day routine, in Germany…but he also was here, every year of his life. And when he was here, he was acting like any other red-blooded American kid.”
Jerry Green also had a little story about his two sons. When they were younger, he recalls, the older Justin (who was born in Germany, but attended high school in the states) would poke fun at his brother when young Julian forgot an English word.
“Julian would get very defensive when his brother would make fun of [his English],” his father said. “So Julian would say to his brother, ‘Yeah, well, I was born in America and you weren’t. I’m from Tampa and you’re not. You’re German. I’m an American.’”